\u201cThe Evolved Network concept is using farm-to-table as a way to reimagine what therapy can be,\u201d White said about his culinary pedagogy. It\u2019s a process White, TEN\u2019s president and executive director, refers to as \u201credemptive hospitality.\u201d Its tenets include showing up to be with individuals \u2014 not coming in as experts to \u201cfix\u201d anything or anyone; paying attention to individuals\u2019 lived experiences and offering care with dignity creates an environment where everyone at the table, both figuratively and literally, is transformed.<\/p>\n
White couples the farm-to-table culinary instruction with history, showing his students the genius of their ancestry\u2019s relationship with the land. He aims to reconnect kids to that experience, adjust the narrative. If the topics of redlining and the proximity of one\u2019s nearest grocery store arise during the hourlong classes, the conversation offers students a different perspective on their food experience.<\/p>\n
White\u2019s goal: Help youth to be more thoughtful, reflective and empowered, he said. For example, as he moves about the kitchen preparing the butternut squash on the YouTube video, he gives prompts to spark some reflection: \u201cWhat memory or feeling comes up when you taste something that reminds you of home? If this dish could tell a story about your day, what would it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ctc-evolve-network-food-kits-11_248823392.jpg\")
A meal kit contains ingredients for roasted butternut squash with maple brown butter and kale chips delivered to students at the Jesuit Academy of Chicago. (Dominic Di Palermo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
It is White\u2019s intention that the experience, like the food, are fresh \u2014 not canned.\u00a0 \u201cI make a dish and see what happens,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be making something and a kid will disclose something sensitive or vulnerable about themselves, about their experiences, because of the safety of the space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waffles paired with a pear syrup and figs; mushroom\/cauliflower tacos with avocado cream, arugula salsa verde, and Chihuahua cheese; and spinach-basil pesto pasta with chicken have all been on the in-class menu for students under White\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing elevated, interesting stuff, because kids can do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m always embedding something new to the experience \u2026 be a part of building something versus buying it. I think that changes your perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently, first graders made a kale salad with quinoa, apples, chicken and an orange maple dressing. Many of the kids had never seen a dressing made from scratch. While some students admittedly preferred the protein over the roughage, most enjoyed it he said, and then he laughed.\u00a0 Whether they liked it or not, he added, at least they learned something about themselves.<\/p>\n
![\"Fifth](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ctc-evolve-network-food-kits-5_248824174.jpg\")
Fifth grader Daniyah Barnett, 11, helps Sebastian White unload meal kits delivered to students, Nov. 20, 2025, at the Jesuit Academy of Chicago. (Dominic Di Palermo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think that exploring and expanding what kids see opens them up,\u201d he said. \u201cA significant part of what we offer is challenging their assumptions and their presumptions about an experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every six weeks, a new seasonal dish and video \u2014 Christmas will be a wintry one \u2014 will drop. The Dallas native said he wants to expand TEN\u2019s programming to other schools, so he\u2019s searching for collaborators willing to provide funding and labor.<\/p>\n
When he\u2019s not at schools such as the Jesuit Academy and William H. Ray Elementary School in Hyde Park, he\u2019s fundraising for TEN cooking with James Beard Award winners and chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants. While White has held titles such as counselor, academic coach and gang intervention therapist over the years, it\u2019s his love of cooking that sparked the creation of The Evolved Network. After working with others, cooking was therapeutic for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat led me down this path is in the spring of 2020, after my father and my aunt passed away, three or four months later, I had a conversation with a mentor, and he essentially said, honor them,\u201d White said. \u201cI started writing out a concept that fused our passions together and have been grinding ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another goal is to be embedded in the communities of the schools he works with, so that every student knows and feels connected to him and TEN\u2019s mission. That means meeting children where they are, he said, allowing kids to be seen for who they are, and leaning into their individuality, one not based on what someone thinks they should be or are.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to draw out potential. I don\u2019t get to determine what a kid\u2019s potential is. What I can draw out is uniqueness,\u201d White said. Helping children take pride in what\u2019s uniquely them, he said, adding, \u201cthat\u2019s when potential becomes possible, because they lean into what they\u2019re passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The holiday season brings with it recipes of signature dishes \u2014 staples that also facilitate convening with loved…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":408216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5404,407,2105,5386,1818,2765,728,50,16577,988,1072],"class_list":{"0":"post-408215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cook-county","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-food-and-drink","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-keywee","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-recipes","18":"tag-restaurants","19":"tag-things-to-do"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115621449845833563","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}